Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Atheism

I don't understand why some Atheists are so angry. Well, I do- their anger at the world and their rejection of the existence of God stem from the same emotional issues. But let's pretend that all Atheists are, in fact, basing their position on a rational analysis of fact. Some are. A flawed logic, perhaps, but logic nonetheless.

Essentially, I cannot accept any Atheist believing in free will. Even if the universe turns out to be nondeterministic at the quantum level, I hardly think that a nondeterministic entangled system having a vague and nebulous effect on the electrical impulses in a bowl of grey tissue can count as free will.

For practical purposes, sure, it makes sense to posit free will. In a philosophical sense, I would also argue that the absence of free will would mean that I have no choice but to believe in it.

But on some kind of absolute, existential, or moral plane? Free will has no basis in scientific fact. I am hard pressed to make any philosophical argument for it other than the above, and without either a scientific or philosophical basis, any of the historical evidence for free will is meaningless. History can only be interpreted in light of our knowledge of how the world works.

So why are some Atheists so vituperatively, vociferously angry? Theists literally have no choice but to worship their gods and perform meaningless rituals. The small minority of violence that is performed in the name of religion is inevitable. You can't be angry at an asteroid for obliterating all life on Earth. In fact, you can't be angry at an asteroid for its failure to believe in the historical theory of evolution.

Well, anger is merely a biochemical indication that you perceive unfairness. So if you believe, deep down, that 'fairness' can be applied to physical reality, other than the specific actions of humans, then you can be angry all the time.